Patrick Carney Talks Comics In New Marvel Online Series

The Black Keys have been quiet of late, but drummer Patrick Carney has surfaced to appear on the first episode of Marvel Entertainment's new online series Marvel's Playback, in which celebrities are asked about the impact comics have had on their lives.

During the four-minute clip Carney says the greatest lesson he got from comic books was to "stay away from (expletive) gamma rays" and named the Hulk has his favorite hero.

In this first episode of our new music-based series, "Marvel's Playback," we hang out with Black Keys drummer, Pat Carney, at his home in Nashville, TN to nerd out over his Marvel collection and answer the question: how has Marvel influenced you?

He shows off his collection, mostly Marvel, and says his interest in comic books was stoked by his father, who "pulled out his comic collection and...sat there and explained to us what was what. I started moving lawns when I was in fourth grade to be able to pay for comic books."

Carney and Black Keys partner Dan Auerbach have largely gone their own way since touring to promote 2014's Turn Blue, but the drummer tells us the duo will return when the time is right:

"We've always just done things like, honestly, from a super DIY point of view. We've never had an A&R guy. Our management doesn't have any input in the music we make. We've always just done it that way, make the records primarily on our own, sometimes with Danger Mouse...It does feel good when you see something, like, completely industry-driven and also breaking the rules not win out, y'know?"

Carney has produced Hopeless Romantic, the new album by his girlfriend, Michelle Branch. Auerbach, meanwhile, has been working with his band The Arcs and produced the Pretenders' 2016 album Alone.

Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.